News Where And How Did You Learn C++?

n72.75

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I thought it would be helpful for people who don't now to code in C++ and would like to learn, to be able to hear from mofe experenced addon developers how they learned what they know.

There are lists of sites that have been posted listing places to learn C++.
That is not what i am looking for; I want to know your process of learning C++. Please include your sources as well.

n72
 

Urwumpe

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I learned it by coming from Turbo Pascal, and became apprentice in the German Aerospace Agency... I got paid for learning it, and had skilled programmers I could annoy with my questions, but it was expected from my to learn C++ and also TCL/Tk at the same time.
 

tblaxland

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Mostly self-taught except for some basic Pascal and C at uni as part of my engineering degree. I taught myself some more advanced C from textbooks to enable my work on my fourth year thesis. We did some FORTRAN and Ada at uni also. Web site tutorials were used to teach myself Visual Basic for some applications I needed at work. I also learnt some LISP from one of my colleagues.

Finally, I taught myself C++ (purely for the purposes of Orbiter development) by reading other peoples Orbiter code and trying to understand it. Various websites were good for that (www.codeguru.com, www.cplusplus.com, www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/) and I have also received some great advice from members on this forum.
 

MajorTom

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Thanks for starting this thread, n72.

I'm studying C++ right now mostly so I can make better add-ons for Orbiter. And I'll need all the help I can get. ;)
 

cjp

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I started programming in good old QBasic in DOS, using a small book targeted towards total programming n00bs. Also got some help from my father.

Then I switched to Visual Basic, learning some object oriented concepts. I got a book from the local library, and also used the help files a lot.

Then I started using Linux, and learned myself C, again using books from the local library. I also got some books about C++, I was impressed by the coolness of true object oriented programming. Before becoming a C++ power user, I already had some experience using C++ together with GUI programming (Qt), but that was hardly more than getting a template from a tutorial, and filling in my C-style code in the right places. The real knowledge came from the books.

It took some time to truly master the language, and in fact I still don't quite get some parts of it.

Nowadays, I have internet, and I learn most new things from online documentation. I even learned several complete programming languages using online documentation only. I'm sure that's also possible for C++.
 

SiberianTiger

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Learned it in the high school so long ago that I already forgot nearly everything; the funniest thing, I was even a C++ tutor for a while. Had I had some more spare time, it would really useful to make an addon or two just to regain hold of the tool.
 

agentgonzo

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I got a book (that I really can't remember) when I was at uni and started to learn a bit through there for my computing projects. Then it was mostly learning with the help of other people. Then I got a job using C++ as a graduate and learned it on the job by using it over the past 6 years.

The only real way to learn a language is to use it.
 

Urwumpe

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Nowadays, I have internet, and I learn most new things from online documentation. I even learned several complete programming languages using online documentation only. I'm sure that's also possible for C++.

Still, I recommend investing the money into the Stroustrup book, it is really worth it and I personally find off-line documentation easier to use in some situations than online documentation.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-3rd-Bjarne-Stroustrup/dp/0201889544/ref=sr_11_1/177-7687314-2010029?ie=UTF8&qid=1233315083&sr=11-1"]Amazon.com: C++ Programming Language, The (3rd Edition): Bjarne Stroustrup: Books[/ame]
 

computerex

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I mostly learned it by making Orbiter add-ons. There is plenty of content to look at. The Orbiter SDK templates are a good place to start.
 

SiameseCat

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I took a C++ programming course in high school, which covered basic programming. The rest I learned from coding add-ons.
 

bert10

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Reading is usually about the words on the page, but learning to program is about code. When you're first learning to program, you should make sure to look at, and try to understand, every example. When I first learned to program, I would sometimes read the code examples before the text, and try to figure out what they did. It doesn't always work, but it did force me to look at the example very carefully, and it often helped make the writeups clearer.

Python Tutorial
 
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Zandy12

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Thank you so much for starting this thread! I am currently learning C++ myself (in school and by myself).
 
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